Portugal will officially recognize a Palestinian state on Sunday, Lisbon’s foreign ministry said on Friday, ahead of a UN General Assembly where around 10 other countries are set to follow suit.
Britain, Canada and France are among the other Western nations planning to give a Palestinian state recognition at the assembly, which comes as Israel’s campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip grinds on.
Lisbon had already announced in July that it intended to do so given the “extremely worrying evolution of the conflict,” as well as the humanitarian crisis and Israel’s repeated threats to annex the West Bank.
“The ministry of foreign affairs confirms that Portugal will recognize the State of Palestine… the official declaration of recognition will be made on Sunday, September 21,” a statement on the ministry’s website said.
Israel has fiercely criticized plans for Palestinian recognition, arguing that it rewards Hamas for its October 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war in Gaza.
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Earlier Friday, an adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron said Andorra, Australia, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta and San Marino also plan to recognize the state of Palestine.
French President Emmanuel Macron, left, looks at Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro while addressing journalists at the Porto City Hall, in Porto, Portugal, February 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Luis Vieira)
Beginning on Monday, next week’s UN General Assembly in New York is set to be devoted to the question of the so-called two state solution to the long-running Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Around three-quarters of the 193 members of United Nations already recognize the state of Palestine, which the General Assembly approved de facto recognition of in 2012 by upgrading its observer status at the world body to “non-member state” from “entity.” Only a handful of the 27 European Union members currently recognize a Palestinian state, mostly former Communist countries as well as Sweden and Cyprus.
‘Mobilizing to prevent PA’s financial collapse’
Alongside the General Assembly, France and Saudi Arabia will co-chair a conference in New York next week on the two-state solution. Ahead of the confab, the two countries were working with Norway and Spain to rally countries around an emergency aid package to prevent the Palestinian Authority’s collapse while Israel withholds hundreds of millions of dollars that belong to Ramallah, according to a letter to potential donor states obtained by The Times of Israel.
For four consecutive months, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has been refusing to transfer clearance revenues that Israel collects on the PA’s behalf. These funds make up the majority of Ramallah’s budget and their withholding has brought the PA to brink of collapse.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich gestures toward a map of the West Bank during a press conference at the Finance Ministry in Jerusalem, September 3, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
The letter to potential donor countries who will be attending a French-Saudi two-state solution conference at the UN on Monday says that participants are expected to demand Israel release the Palestinian funds.
However, organizers seemed resigned to the possibility that Jerusalem will not budge on the issue and therefore set a fundraising goal of $200 million for each of the next six months to cover the PA’s operating expenses.
“Support to the recovery of the private sector and the functioning of essential commercial actors, including Palestinian banks, is also needed,” the letter says.
A European diplomat teold The Times of Israel that the four participating countries have already agreed to donate $200 million a month to the PA for six months, but are hoping that other countries help share the burden.
“The Palestinian Authority is engaged in implementing an ambitious reform agenda, aiming at structural transformations that lay the foundation for a modern, transparent, and accountable State,” said the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, France, Norway and Spain, as they sought to justify another international fundraising campaign for Ramallah.
Saudi Arabia’s inclusion in the effort is particularly noteworthy, as Riyadh previously was one of PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s biggest critics, accusing him of corruption.
The leading Arab country’s inclusion in the effort gives Ramallah’s recent reform efforts a boost of legitimacy.
A handout picture provided by the Palestinian Authority’s press office (PPO) shows PA President Mahmoud Abbas (L) meeting with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in Riyadh on August 27, 2024. (Thaer Ghanaim / PPO / AFP)
The letter says the PA is facing an “existential threat” due to the withholding of clearance revenues on top of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, settler violence in the West Bank and blocks on transfers to Palestinian banks.
“A viable Palestinian state capable of fulfilling the needs and aspirations of the Palestinian people will be essential for a future of peace and security in the Middle East,” the four countries said.
“We therefore need to urgently mobilize to prevent a financial collapse of the Palestinian Authority, with severe implications for Palestinian society, regional stability, and international security,” the letter continues. “Financial shortcoming cannot be the cause of the failure of the Palestinian State and destabilization of the Middle East.”
“We need to act now, and with this objective, we propose to swiftly coordinate in the coming days an emergency coalition for Palestine,” the letter states.
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